Members of the Royal household were “gobsmacked” by David Cameron’s decision
to hire the former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as his
communications chief and had serious concerns about his appointment, it has
emerged.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II talks to staff members as she officially opened the fourth session of the Scottish Parliament, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Friday July 1, 2011Photo: PA

The Labour MP Chris Bryant claimed “senior members of the Royal family” were “very troubled” by Mr Cameron’s decision to hire a man who resigned after his newspaper hacked the phones of aides to Prince William and Prince Harry.

Mr Bryant even suggested that palace staff tried to raise their concerns with Mr Cameron.

Buckingham Palace strongly denied that any member of the Royal household or of the Royal family had tried to warn Mr Cameron against hiring Mr Coulson, and Downing Street said any such claim was “complete rubbish”.

But the fact that members of the Royal household privately held strong opinions about Mr Coulson’s appointment will inevitably ratchet up the pressure on the Prime Minister as he prepares to address Parliament on the hacking scandal.

One source said staff within the royal palaces were “surprised” when Mr Coulson was hired as media strategist to the then leader of the Opposition, and eyebrows were raised further when he was taken into Downing Street following the Tories’ election victory.

Mr Bryant said: “The Queen’s grandchildren had their phones hacked. And quite probably other members of the Royal household…I think it would be perfectly natural for very senior members of the Royal family to be very troubled about the appointment.

“After all, Andy Coulson was the editor of the News of the World when the royal princes’ phones were hacked. That is not in dispute.

“My understanding is that members of the Royal family were very troubled about it and that there were certainly attempts to make sure that the Prime Minister understood that.”

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: “On no occasion did any official from Buckingham Palace raise concerns with Downing Street and indeed it is outrageous to suggest this.”

Sources said it was “extremely unlikely” that the Queen would ever have discussed Mr Coulson’s appointment with Mr Cameron during her weekly meetings with the Prime Minister.